Truly Dreadful Film

Strong and Moving!

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Copyright 2 January 1943 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Hollywood Theater: 29 May 1942. U.S. release: May 1942. U.K. release: 19 September 1942. Australian release: 30 September 1943. Sydney release: 24 September 1943 (Tatler Theater). Australian length: 11,563 feet (128½ minutes). U.S. length: 126 minutes.SYNOPSIS: George M. Cohan — from birth to Broadway to "President".NOTES: Initial domestic gross: $4,800,000. In addition to his Academy Award, James Cagney also won the New York Film Critics award for Best Actor (he walked away with the award, receiving 13 votes to 2 on the very first ballot!). Curtiz was nominated for Best Director but dropped out after the second ballet. (The award was eventually won by John Farrow for "Wake Island"). When I interviewed Jimmy Cagney, there were two films he was especially fond of. One, of course, was "Footlight Parade" (1933) which took Cagney out of the noir aura of thieves and gangsters and into the song-and-dance world of musical comedy. His other favorite film of course was "Yankee Doodle Dandy" which Cagney felt did such important work as a wartime morale-booster that any liberties the script took with the real facts of George M. Cohan's birth (he was actually born on July 3, not July 4) and life story were totally unimportant. COMMENT: ?Yankee Doodle Dandy" was obviously filmed on a blank check as a war-time propaganda gesture. Cohan himself died a few months after the film's release. He was ill at the time and took no part in the production which, as might be expected of Hollywood, takes considerable liberties, both major and minor with his career. Although he regarded July 4th as his birthday, Cohan was actually born on July 3rd which makes total nonsense of the entire first ten or fifteen minutes of the film. A nauseating performance by Walter Huston – actively abetting this lie – doesn't help either. Another equally outlandish falsehood occurs in the later stages of the film when Cohan denies having made any movies whereas he made several, including two sound films — The Phantom President (1932) and Gambling (1934).Oddly, and to my great surprise, Cohan himself hated the movie, which is surprising in view of the fact that it so vigorously abets the lie that he was born on July 4. The problem no doubt is that the movie lies on such an enormous raft of other details as well. It is really a fairy tale rather than a genuine "life".Nonetheless, this is rousing, bouncy entertainment, with Cagney flashily hoofing and singing such Cohan standards as "Give My Regards to Broadway", "I Was Born In Virginia" and "Over There".One of the highlights of the film are the two long scenes from the stage presentation of "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Cagney deserved his Best Actor Award. He dominates the entire film. He tells the story in flashback and appears in just about every scene, except of course the early ones with the child actors. Aside from his opening scenes, Huston is effective, also sings his own songs and does his own hoofing, but the other principal players are either colorless or put in the shade by Cagney, particularly Jeanne Cagney and to a lesser extent De Camp, Leslie and Whorf. Irene Manning tends to over-act and does not come across too attractively though she sings in her own voice. As in "Lillian Russell", Eddie Foy does his father again to perfection, but alas has only one unimportant scene with Cagney. What could be omitted is a lot of the routine domestic trivia with which the director seems as bored as we are. Curtiz comes to life during the parades and songs and Siegel has provided a couple of lively montages, including an extremely elaborate one of the neon lights of Old Broadway. Production values are superlative.AVAILABLE on a superb Warner DVD.

This biographical musical drama, that displays life and work of versatile Broadway author and performer George M. Cohan, deservedly won 3 Oscars out of 8 nominations and it is considered to be one of the best movies of all time. It is not kind of musical where a story is told through song and dance, but a regular movie with some theatrical musical scenes that are needed to represent his career. So this movie could be acceptable and enjoyable even for those who hate musicals. Personally, I am not a fan of musicals and I am strongly irritated by any type of pro-American or any patriotic propaganda, which this movie certainly is, but it has so many other qualities that it left really strong positive impression on me and I really enjoyed it.8/10

James Cagney. What can I say? I've seen several of his gangster films and he has such an intensity and presence. He makes other actors look tired and boring by comparison. He means every line he says, he looks other people right in the eye. There's no compromise with him. He doesn't act, he just expresses. I had no idea until much later that he also sang and danced. The dancing in this movie is incredible. He makes it look so effortless. It's so smooth and timed so perfectly and yet I'm sure a lot of it is very difficult. And his harmonies sound very nice as well.The story is pretty heart-warming. The characters seem to keep out doing each-other in kindness and understanding. Normally, you expect lies and secrets, arguments that eventually get resolved, romances that hang by a thread. Maybe they sugar-coated reality but it's nice to see such warm and caring characters in a movie. There is a lengthy partnership with no contract signed - they just trusted and respected each-other enough to not need one. Cagney gets flowers for his wife to soften the blow of her song being given to another lady to sing. He hesitantly admits it but she isn't surprised. She already knew when he brought her the flowers and she's happy for him.The movie builds slowly and is set-up in a logical order. George M. Cohan (Cagney) is asked to meet with the President but he doesn't know why. He recounts his life story to the President. We see how he was part of a show with his parents and sister (played by Cagney's actual sister). They were known as the 4 Cohans. George was maybe a bit arrogant when he was young. It's funny to see his parents talk more about smacking him than actually smack him. They know he needs discipline but are too nice to want to hurt him. We see him struggle later to find work and see the tricks he uses to get his foot in the door.A lot of the dialogue is snappy and entertaining. George always has something clever to say and he rarely misses a chance to trick people or make fun of them. At one point, he is dressed as an old man and a young woman thinks he is one. So he plays along before casually removing his beard and make-up as she screams in surprise. If people don't recognise him, he talks to them about himself in the 3rd person. He talks himself up but it's an act. He is confident but not arrogant.I tend to do a lot of the same things myself. As if I like to test people to see if they can see through my facade. To see if they can detect the subtle jokes or jabs in what I say. If they can't, they probably won't interest me or understand me. And besides, it's boring to simply parrot the standard phrases of everyday conversation. Intelligence needs a place to play and language (including body language) has plenty of space within it for hide- and-seek.It's moving to see how George M. Cohan's tunes took on a life of their own and become patriotic classics. They are more famous than he is now. He is humbled by the honour. And he never forgets his family. The part where he does an impromptu tap dance as he descends some stairs takes cool to another level. Apparently Cagney improvised it. He also deliberately inhabited Cohan's more rigid style of movement which is not Cagney's usual style. At one point, Cohan tries to join the army but they insist he is more useful on the home front. He improvises a dance for them as they cheer. Their morales have been boosted, but he just enjoys dancing.It's funny because I'm not American but I swear this movie made me feel proud to be American. It has such a positive, uplifting sense of patriotism to it. It doesn't make war sound fun but it makes being a soldier for America sound brave and worthy of respect. It makes you feel hopeful that the good guys will win. This is obviously very appropriate for 1942 when America had recently joined the war. But it's not a propaganda movie, it's a timeless movie about a performer who unexpectedly left a mark on America.

Repeat after me: Yankee Doodle Dandy is NOT one of the Top 100 films of all time. Submitted for your consideration: 1. Filled with highly patriotic songs, this movie had the incredibly good fortune to hit the theaters shortly after Pearl Harbor was attacked. 2. Despite the Pearl Harbor timing, the National Critics Review that year did not even rate Yankee Doodle Dandy in its Ten Best Movies of 1942. It was never mentioned by critics as one of the best movies of the year, until it received an Oscar Nomination for Best Picture. 3. 1942 has been ranked by a reviewer as the 71st best year, out of 82 years, for quality films. Even so, Yankee Doodle did not win the Best Picture Oscar, losing to Mrs. Miniver. 4. Yes, it has a string of great songs. Unfortunately, most of them are sung by James Cagney who is probably the worst lead singer in any major musical movie ever. EVER!! Cagney is a worse singer than Rex Harrison, he is even worse than Pierce Brosnan. Cagney is literally unable to sustain a note.Any note! How much better would those great songs have been if they had been performed by someone who could sing? Who could sustain a note?5. Yes, Cagney surprised everyone by showing a real ability to dance. But does that surprise make this a great movie? Or is it merely akin to discovering, after all these years, that Meryl Streep can sing - as in Mamma Mia ? or that Yoda can fight - in Star Wars 5? 6. We hear a song called "A Girl Named Mary" sung 4 or 5 times; it is important to the plot at one point and is repeatedly called a "great song" and "the best song ever written" by George M Cohan. However, no matter what the actors say, it is clearly a very ordinary song. Its just ridiculous -its jarring, its destroys the audience's suspension of disbelief, analogous to a movie scene in which Chris Farley or Danny Devito are hailed as one of the best looking hunks of all time. 7. Cagney is energetic and overbearingly cocky, but I did not find him likable. 8. The staging of many of the musical numbers was way below average. Repeatedly, there were too many dancers in too small of a space -no one could move. No competent stage director does that. And even if the women did move - you could hardly discern it in those butt-ugly dresses they wore in every number. This is world-class entertainment? I don't think so. 9. The acting? the dialog? A font of nuanced characterization? Of gradually realized humanity? Nope, indeed, every character is a one note stereotype. 10. Accuracy. in real life, George M. Cohan had two wives, neither was named Mary. In fact, virtually every aspect of the plot was made up by Hollywood.11. Overly long. 12. There is a long re-enactment of a scene from the theatrical production of Yankee Doodle Dandy. In this theater scene, our hero, Yankee Doodle (Cagney), has lost the horse race! and is in disgrace because he is accused of throwing the race. As the closing curtain is poised to come down, a lawyer-ly actor with a brief case runs up to Yankee Doodle and says something like "I'm trying to get a document that will clear you of throwing the race. The document will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you did not throw that race! I am getting on that boat and if I am then successful at obtaining the document,I'll signal you by setting off fireworks." Cagney, our Actor of the Year for 1942, nods dumbly without showing any apparent interest as to what this document could possibly be. (SPOILER ALERT) Of course, a few minutes later, fireworks go off and the show has a happy ending.So what exactly could those documents have been? What kind of content could a document possibly have so as to prove that Yankee Doodle did not throw a race? It defies comprehension. And who was this guy? And where did he have the fireworks hidden -in his pants? And what kind of moron sets off fireworks on a boat? (think fire safety.) Exactly how dumb, how completely stupid, does a movie need to be before you turn off the TV?Repeat after me: Yankee Doodle Dandy is NOT one of the TOP 100 Movies of All Time.